How to Bet on MLB Futures

The “Odds to Win” wager in pro baseball is also commonly referred to as a future odds wager. Bettors must correctly select a team to win an event that takes place a later time than the current day. The money wagered will be tied up until there is an outcome and bettors will receive fixed odds when they place the wager.

The Major League Baseball (MLB) Futures market is available on a 12-month basis and the future odds are normally updated on a weekly basis at betting shops in Las Vegas and globally in the United States. Bettors can place wagers on the event in both the offseason, regular season and postseason. With so many things to bet on during the MLB, see VegasInsider's verified legal sportsbooks in the United States for more information on where you can place your bets.

The most popular MLB Futures wager is on the World Series. There are currently 30 teams in MLB, divided equally into two leagues – the American and National. Each of those leagues have a champion and they meet in the World Series, which is a best-of-seven series. The first team to win four games is declared your World Series winner and MLB Futures winner.

2020 World Series Odds to Win

There are several good bets to win the MLB Playoffs in 2020. The current odds to win the baseball World Series today are:

Dodgers: +375

Yankees: +400

Astros: +650

Braves: +1300

Twins: +1600

Nationals: +1800

Rays: +1800

Phillies: +2000

Cardinals: +2000

Cubs: +2200

World Series Odds

The MLB World Series is usually scheduled for the third week of October and has often been referred to as the “Fall Classic.” The World Series Futures Odds for each season are made available quickly at the majority of sportsbooks at the conclusion of the previous campaign. Some sports betting operators even release the future season odds while the current MLB playoffs have not yet concluded.

Since the MLB regular season is the longest of all four major sports, bookmakers don’t make one team a decisive favorite over another prior to the season. You’ll usually see three to four teams have World Series Odds listed below 10/1 (Bet $100 to win $1,000).

The majority of the MLB teams will have future odds between 20/1 and 100/1 before the numbers begin to drop off. Unfortunately for some fans, there are teams with World Series Odds listed as high as 1000/1 to win the future event.

How do I bet on the World Series?

It’s very simple to bet on the World Series and the MLB Future Odds market is always open for business.

To figure out your Win Amount, a bettor would take the betting odds offered on a team and multiply by the amount wagered.

Ex. New York Yankees (20/1) to win the World Series.

In the above example, the Yankees have their MLB future odds listed as a 20/1 betting choice to win the World Series.

If you wager $100 on New York to win the World Series and it captures the championship, then you would win $2,000 (20 ÷ 1 x 100).

You would collect $2,100, which includes your win and stake ($100). The stake is the initial dollar amount that you wager on the MLB future, either at a sportsbook or through an online sportsbook.

Bettors viewing their odds in American Format would see the Yankees listed at +2000 and if you prefer Decimal Odds, then New York would be seen as 21.00.

What’s great about betting on the World Series and MLB Future Odds is that there are plenty of betting opportunities for players throughout the season. Often in the MLB season, you’ll see teams start out slow in April and May, only to rally and make the playoffs. Forecasting the turnaround isn’t easy but the returns are often great and the risk is very low in the MLB Futures market.